Tulane basketball team fights back but falls to East Carolina

After erasing a 13-point first-half deficit, Tulane held a lead late but could not hang on in losing to East Carolina71-68 on Wednesday night in a Conference USA game at Minges Coliseum.

"I am very proud of the way we fought tonight especially in the second half, " Green Wave Coach Dave Dickerson said. "We showed a lot of character, a lot of toughness and a lot of togetherness by playing the way we played. Everyone stepped up and made plays."

Tulane (7-16, 2-8) trailed the Pirates (8-16, 2-8) 31-18 with 7:17 remaining in the first half and trailed 41-31 at halftime, but the Green Wave used solid defense and a scoring surge to take its first lead, 63-62, on a jumper by Jordan Callahan with 4:28 remaining.

East Carolina retook the lead on two free throws by Jonte Sherrod before a three-point play by David Booker gave Tualne a 66-64 lead with 3:39 remaining. The Green Wave managed two more points -- two free throws by Booker -- the remainder of the game, as the Pirates scored seven points down the stretch.

Tulane did have two chances to attempt to tie or take the lead in the waning seconds. The first resulted in a turnover with 10 seconds remaining and the Green Wave trailing 69-68. East Carolina madetwo free throws on the ensuing possession to take a three-point lead.

The second opportunity came after an offensive rebound by Aaron Holmes on a Callahan missed free-throw attempt and resulted in a missed 3-point attempt by Johnny Mayhane as time expired.

"We probably should have handled that situation as the end the little better, but we didn't, " Dickerson said.

Tulane played the game without senior guard Kevin Sims, still out with a broken wrist, and junior guard Kris Richard, who sat out with an injured ankle.

The Green Wave jumped out after halftime to score the five points and cut the ECU lead to 41-36. The Pirates built the lead back to seven points three times, the final being 48-41 with 14:19 remaining.

ECU connected on five-of-eight from 3-point range in the first half, but made just one-of-five in the second. The Green Wave forced 12 second-half turnovers and collected seven second-half steals. Overall, ECU committed 17 turnovers that resulted in 29 points for the Green Wave.

Kendall Timmons led Tulane with 16 points and seven rebounds, and Aaron Holmes, who made his first start since returning from injury, added 15 points, five rebounds and five steals. Booker had 12 points and Asim McQueen chipped in with 10.